Not-Sold-Here: How Attitudes Influence External Knowledge Exploitation

Abstract

Employee attitudes with regard to the usefulness of external knowledge may influence a firm's extent of inter-organizational knowledge transactions. Prior research has focused on “not-invented-here (NIH)” tendencies, which refer to negative attitudes in organizations toward the acquisition of knowledge from external sources. In this research, we develop the concept of “not-sold-here (NSH)” tendencies, which result from protective attitudes in firms toward the external exploitation of knowledge, for example, technology licensing. We show conceptually how NSH tendencies develop and how they can influence the extent of outward knowledge transfer. We test five hypotheses regarding antecedents and consequences of NSH tendencies with data from 152 firms spanning multiple industries. The empirical findings show that NSH tendencies exist in organizations and that they constitute a major barrier to the implementation of external knowledge commercialization strategies. The concept of NSH therefore helps explain the varying degrees of activity in external knowledge exploitation, and it contributes to understanding particular microfoundations of dynamic capabilities.